Rosalia Resurgence
by BlackTyrantValvatorez
Summary: Erhard Muller was tracking a swarm of butterflies believed to be carrying the Rosalia Virus when he finds himself dragged into the mess with GUILT, PGS, and Neo-GUILT along with Gabriel Cunningham. Alternate Universe version of Trauma Center Under the Knife 2 crossed with Trauma Team. Derek x Angie, CR-S01/Erhard x Heather.
1. Chapter 1

A butterfly that held something inside its body flew through a small clearing inside a forest until a bullet pierced its body and sent it straight into the side of a deer buck. The buck slowly bled to death over the course of a couple of days as it visited fields of flowers and wandered through them. The buck knew that deer liked to eat flowers, but when it bent its head down to eat one on its last day, it collapsed and its blood seeped into the ground and was absorbed by the flowers as the buck futilely tried to eat in its final moments. The flowers were fed on by a swarm of butterflies that began their migration to Angeles City afterwards. It was somewhere along the way that the butterflies began to shed their scales which unknowingly contained whatever the original butterfly had.

What the first butterfly had was something that had been behind the Cumberland College Incident, a virus of the filoviridae family, a pathogen that nearly plunged the eastern part of the U.S. into chaos: the Rosalia Virus. Its unique composition of nucleic acid made it a new organism, albeit one that reproduces like a virus. Curiously, it attacks both healthy cells and cells that have been infected by other diseases. Capable of surviving inside the body of its host long after the host's death, the virus is capable of retaining its virulent nature while waiting for a new host. Having found one inside several flowers that were fed on by butterflies, the virus proceeded to unleash a new wave of infection.

Erhard Muller, known as CR-S01 because he was thrown into prison because of the Cumberland College incident even though he was innocent of the crime, was tracking the swarm of butterflies that had fed on the flowers that were near a dead buck. After agent Holden revealed Albert Sartre's role in the Cumberland College Incident through an audio clip, Erhard was exonerated and became a freelance surgeon, operating on any victims of accidents or diseases on the East Coast along with Gabriel Cunningham. After collecting a blood sample from the dead deer, Erhard found that it had tested positive for the Rosalia Virus and pursued the butterfly swarm along its migration route, eventually coming to Angeles City. It was here that Erhard and Gabriel would eventually become embroiled into the mess involving GUILT and Post-GUILT Syndrome.

* * *

><p>While in town near the International Airport one day, Erhard and Gabe overheard some chatter near a bunch of televisions that were broadcasting a news bulletin that went:<p>

"Our top story for today is the sudden resurgence of GUILT. It has been confirmed that the previous victims of the disease known as **Gangliated Utrophin Immuno Latency Toxin**, or GUILT for short are starting to show symptoms of what can only be speculated as Post-GUILT Syndrome. More details later as we learn things."

Gabe commented, "It seems that things are gonna get hectic around these parts."

Erhard said coldly, "We need to make contact with Caduceus so that we can join them and hopefully assist in any anti-GUILT research."

"I hear that two of their personnel are arriving today at the International Airport along with a new guy. I wonder where they're coming from."

"It's probably Costigar. Last I checked, Costigar was practically tearing its shite apart in a civil war. Also, the guy who's with them is Adel Tulba. Here's a picture of him I snagged off of some site." Erhard then gave Gabriel a photo of Adel Tulba.

"You gotta be kidding me. That's a guy!? He's a dude that looks like lady for Pete's sake" Gabe said, rather surprised.

"Shite, while we're wasting our time bickering here they could have already left! Let's move it, Gabe!"

"You got that right, partner."

As Gabe and Erhard got moving, at another part of the airport, Adel was amazed at the sight of the city around him.

"So this is America. . . I've never seen such tall buildings before. . . wow. . ." Dr. Tulba said.

"You've never lived in a city then, Dr. Tulba?" a blonde woman asked.

"No. This is the first time I've ever left my country. I wonder if I'll fit in here. . ."

"Well, we spent half a year in Costigar without running into any major problems, so don't worry. You'll get used to it in no time." a brown-haired man said.

"Besides, you're very well spoken, even in English. But if you do happen to run into any trouble, I'd be happy to help." the blonde said.

"Thank you, Angie. I'll try to stay positive." Adel said to the blonde woman.

". . .Then again, they're going to be keeping you so busy, you won't have much time to find trouble." the brown-haired man said.

Erhard happened to see the three of them close by as did Gabriel and Gabe predictably called out, "Hello there, Dr. Stiles."

Dr. Stiles noticed Gabe and Erhard as did Angie and Adel and said, "Hello, Gabe. What brings you here?"

"Dr. Stiles, who are these people?" Adel asked.

"My name is Erhard Muller and over here is Gabriel Cunningham or Gabe as he likes to be called. He's a Diagnostician while I'm a surgeon like Dr. Stiles." Erhard said.

"It's nice to meet you, Dr. Muller and Dr. Cunningham. I'm Angela Thompson a.k.a. Angie. I'm sure you already know who Dr. Derek Stiles is." Angie said.

"What brings the two of you here to Angeles City?" Adel asked Erhard and Gabe.

"We're here to join Caduceus." Erhard said before Gabe could state the real reason why.

"It always helps to have a few hands around. Come with us." Derek said.

"Sure." Gabe said while Erhard nodded in agreement.

Quite a while later at Caduceus USA, the Executive Director of the organization, Robert Hoffman, apologized to calling Angie and Derek back to the U.S., but Dr. Stiles said that it was alright because of the circumstances. The Chief Director, Sidney Kasal, came in and said that while GUILT itself has not returned, many former patients that had it came down with various maladies that were classified as symptoms of Post-GUILT Syndrome. After the GUILT-related stuff was done being talked about, Director Hoffman looked at Gabe and Erhard and said to them, "Well well, look who's here: Gabriel Cunningham and Erhard Muller." while Sidney Kasal talked with Adel.

"You two came to join us at a good opportunity. You'll be added to the roster of Caduceus USA personnel." Hoffman said.

"Don't worry about teaching Erhard, he's already been taught about medical procedures." Gabe said.

"Ah, you must be talking about the late Albert Sartre, perpetrator of the Cumberland College Incident. Yes, I know that Erhard was taught his skills by Sartre himself before the incident. I take it that you'll be assisting him?"

"Yes, Director Hoffman."

"One other thing: here's some important data that will need to be looked at." Erhard said as he brought out a laptop and opened it up before sending into Caduceus's database a file on the Rosalia Virus.

Hoffman looked at the new file and asked, "Rosalia Virus? Was that what killed everyone at Cumberland College when the incident happened?"

"Yes, Sir. I've operated on it before and thus have personal experience treating it."

A while later, Erhard set to work renovating his office so that he could also use it as a bedroom. He explained it as a holdover from when he was operating to commute a lengthy prison sentence from the bioterrorism charges which he has been exonerated for.

"That's certainly a surprise. I never heard that you had been exonerated for that incident." Tyler Chase said to Erhard.

"The late Albert Sartre was the real culprit of the incident. He had framed me and escaped to Mexico in order to further his research of the Rosalia Virus even though it could not be redirected from its hostile nature."

"Wow, you must have been through a lot because of him." a green-haired nurse called Leslie Sears said to Erhard.

"Ironically if it weren't for him, I would have never been able to treat the Rosalia Virus. Anyways, I've got to be up early tomorrow, so goodnight."

Erhard saw Gabe, Leslie, and Tyler leave his office before locking his office door and going to bed.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day was rather busy for Erhard Muller and Gabe Cunningham, so they didn't do a whole bunch of talking. While conducting rounds one day, they were called into Director Kasal's office along with Dr Stiles and then Derek said, "From. . . Elysium?"

"Yes, PGS patients are arising there as well." Director Kasal said.

"So even people recuperating at exclusive facilities are coming down with PGS. . ." Angie said.

"Wait, what is Elysium?" Adel asked.

"It's a facility that was established as a result of the GUILT terrorism that erupted three years ago. A number of people infected by GUILT are being treated there until they can fully recover." Director Kasal explained.

"The unauthorized research of GUILT was forbidden by international law, so Elysium was built in order to circumvent that." Angie added.

"Really?" Adel said.

"But so many PGS cases are arising that even Elysium can't handle all of them. As a result, we've accepted one of their more intensive patients." Sydney said.

"What is the patients name?" Derek Stiles asked.

"This may be painful for you two to hear, but. . . he's a 'Sinner,' one of Delphi's former guinea pigs for GUILT research. The incoming patient is a young Mexican. His name is Emilio Juarez, age 17. The hepatitis he's suffering from is thought to be GUILT-related, and it's fulminant."

"He had to experience such pain at the hands of Delphi, and now he has to suffer PGS. . ." Derek said.

"He can still be treated though. We need to stay optimistic." Angie Thompson said.

"He'll be arriving this afternoon, so I'm counting on both of you." Director Kasal concluded.

Erhard then asked, "What about me and Gabe? Do we need to do anything?"

"As it stands we've also got another patient coming in, but. . . It's Miss Amy Chase." Director Kasal explained.

"What!? Tyler's sister!?" Derek exclaimed.

"Yes, it appears that she is also exhibiting symptoms of Post-GUILT Syndrome. I'll have Erhard and Gabe operate on her so that you can focus on Emilio." Sydney calmly said.

As Erhard got ready, Victor Niguel introduced himself to Dr. Muller and then said, "I'm gonna have to explain some things about the way Post-GUILT Syndrome works, so listen up."

"I hear you." Erhard said he got ready. Upon making an initial incision to look at Amy's stomach, Gabe commented that he had never seen an organ turn black. Victor then explained, "PGS victims tend to develop toxicosis, which will nullify the effects of the stabilizer. Since the patient's vitals are important, we need to do something about the toxicosis first. That's why I had to prepare this sedative for the toxicosis."

Looking at the black sedative, Erhard said, "Judging by the container, the toxicosis sedative is probably injected the same way as the stabilizer." He loaded a full dose into the syringe and injected the sedative into Amy Chase. After it was done, Gabe commented on how the organ returned to normal only for Erhard to say, "I don't think the sedative will permanently keep the toxicosis at bay. Only treating all of the PGS-related problems will get rid of the toxicosis."

"You're correct, Dr. Muller. Now every time there's an onset of toxicosis, remember to inject the sedative. Now about that stupid tumor. . ." Victor said.

Gabe looked at it and said, "After draining the cytoplasm, those veins on the tumor need to be severed before it can be extracted."

"And the laser will destroy small tumors. Everything else is just typical except for the toxicosis." Erhard said as he drained the cytoplasm of the tumor and severed the veins before extracting it and dealing with a few small tumors. Very quickly, two more PGS tumors appeared and Erhard dealt with them before neutralizing the small tumors that came with them, also injecting the sedative whenever the toxicosis started acting up. After that, four PGS tumors appeared and they were dealt with the same way Erhard had neutralized the first one while he started injecting stabilizer into Amy at set intervals. No small tumors accompanied them this time and when the four large tumors were extracted, Dr. Muller moved onto the left lung, where three PGS tumors were waiting. They were neutralized without a second thought, but when they were, five PGS tumors that each had three small tumors around them appeared and toxicosis tried to set in as well. The toxicosis was easy to deal with and it was standard PGS tumor procedure once the toxicosis had subsided. Once all of the tumors were gone, the incision was sutured and disinfected before Erhard put a bandage on it.

"Well, it looks like we're done here." Erhard said.

"You got that right. A new diagnostic on Miss Amy has detected nothing." Gabe said.

"Still, it's going to be busy dealing with PGS and GUILT. We can't afford to slack off."

A while later, Erhard and Gabe was able to meet with Emilio Juarez and his personal nurse Heather Ross. As it turned out, Erhard could speak fluent Spanish and was able to converse with Emilio normally. Looking at the time, Erhard decided that it was a good time to stop and said to Emilio before leaving, "Should Dr. Stiles and Ms. Thompson have their hands tied treating others, I will be there with my friend Gabriel Cunningham to help you."

"Thank you, Dr. Muller." Emilio said faintly before falling asleep.

Erhard retired to his office and slept the rest of the night while Gabe still had stuff to do.

* * *

><p>AN: Notice how when Erhard and Emilio were talking to each other, their words were underlined? There's going to be some talking between Erhard and Emilio in this story and to make it easy on you people, for this story, Spanish is underlined.


	3. Chapter 3

Erhard was busy in his office that morning and eventually Derek and Angie were wondering why Dr. Muller had not left his office when Gabe came to them and said that he needs them in his office for something important. When the two of them went in, Erhard said to them, "Ah, you arrived. This information will need to reach Director Kasal and Mr. Hoffman once we are done talking. First, have a look at this." before having Derek look at the computer screen, which detailed the tumors that had been on Amy's stomach and left lung.

"Something seems familiar about those tumors." Derek said.

"I've had my suspicions on them as well, Dr. Stiles. I did a look into patients who had a similar situation and the only match I got was one John Matthews, but he only had these weird tumors on his stomach." Erhard replied.

"Which means that Miss Chase and Mr. Matthews had the same Post-GUILT Syndrome." Angie said.

"Exactly. It's already confirmed that Miss Chase once had Deftera and since Mr. Matthews had PGS tumors on his stomach like Miss Chase, there's only one logical conclusion that I can reach: when you operated on Mr. Matthews a few days before I operated on Miss Chase, we were unknowingly treating Post-Deftera." Erhard said.

"So we've identified a strain of Post-GUILT Syndrome. Emilio once had the Pempti strain of GUILT in his systems, so what he had was definitely Post-Pempti." Dr. Stiles said.

Erhard gave Derek and Angie each a stack of papers. "These stacks are identical because they are a report on my findings. Nurse Thompson, you mind delivering your stack to Director Kasal?"

"Not at all." she said.

"As for you, Dr. Stiles, that leaves you with Executive Hoffman."

"I hear you." Derek said.

As Dr. Stiles and Angie left his office, Erhard got a call down to an operating room where Gabe currently was in. Once he was in there, he asked Gabe, "What's the situation?"

"We've got a patient coming in. Got caught in an accident off a four-way intersection. Victim's car was hit by a drunk driver." Dr. Cunningham said.

"Anything picked up by Diagnostics?"

"Yeah, tumors have been detected on the stomach, but the formation is abnormal. His name's Joe Faison."

"Any injuries?"

"Broken left arm and some minor lacerations. Aside form the tumors, that's all that we're treating."

As they got prepared for the operation, Dr. Stiles and Victor came in. Victor said, "I've heard about the patient that's coming in. I'll be watching you for this operation."

"Understood. Gabe, we have our stuff ready?"

"Yep."

The patient was then rolled in and placed on the operating table by Leslie and Tyler. Erhard then said, "It's time to begin."

Dr. Muller first handled the lacerations before proceeding to make an incision on Joe's left arm to begin reconstructing it. That was relatively easy, but after the incision was sutured and disinfected before a bandage was put on, the hard part began. Making an incision onto Mr. Faison's chest, Erhard and by extension Victor and Dr. Stiles saw three tumors in an abnormal formation.

"Something's suspicious about those tumors." Gabe warned.

"I see nothing odd about them. Treat them normally." Victor said.

Erhard had the drain set, but when he started draining the cytoplasm of one of them after incising it vertically with the scalpel, the tumor being drained instantly burst and four new ones appeared a fair distance away from where the old tumor burst. Victor noticed and said, "What the hell!? The tumor burst the instant you tried to drain it!"

"This isn't so simple now. I think we're dealing with the Rosalia Virus." Gabe said as he gave the antiviral drug spray to Erhard. He sprayed a tumor with the drug before draining it's cytoplasm after the incision was made. This time the tumor did not burst and it was excised and extracted safely before fifteen seconds passed. Th wound was covered with a synthetic membrane and then set in by applying antibiotic gel onto it before injecting a dose of stabilizer into Mr. Faison since his vitals read 35 when the synthetic membrane was set.

"What was that thing you sprayed onto the tumor?" Dr. Stiles asked.

"It's an antiviral drug that is meant specifically to counter the Rosalia Virus. We got lucky that when the tumor burst it didn't cause any similar tumors to appear on other organs." Erhard said.

"You're right about that, Dr. Muller. When the tumor burst, I did another scan and found no tumors anywhere but on the stomach." Gabe said.

It was standard procedure to treat the remaining five tumors once the antiviral drug was sprayed onto them, but Erhard also warned that the spray only keeps the tumors from bursting for 15 seconds which was why he excised the first one quickly. Once all of the tumors were treated, the incision was closed up, sutured, and disinfected before a bandage was put on it and a new scan found nothing wrong.

"Well, it looks like we're done now." Erhard said.

"It was annoying that without that antiviral spray, draining the tumors would cause them to burst instantly." Victor said.

"What worries me more is that those Rosalia Virus tumors were only found when diagnosing Mr. Faison for any other injuries." Derek said.

"I guess we caught and treated the Rosalia Virus when it was in its dark phase. When in the dark phase, the virus tumors can only be detected by searching for internal injuries. Once the Rosalia Virus enters its active phase, that's when symptoms will appear." Gabe said.

"So what are the symptoms of a Rosalia Virus infection?" Angie asked as she came in.

"The symptoms of a Rosalia Virus infection include severe hemorrhaging, vomiting up blood, a black bruise that forms over affected areas, unexplainable tumor formation, convulsions, and in the worst case cardiac arrest. The virus also only spreads through body fluids and it also screws up the mental state of its victim since a side effect of an infection is auditory and visual hallucinations." Erhard explained.

"Well it looks like we'll have to note this stuff on our report." Gabe said.

"You got that right."


	4. Chapter 4

It was not too long before another situation appeared, but this one was GUILT-related. Erhard immediately got ready as did Derek Stiles, Gabriel Cunningham, Angie Thompson, and the other doctors of Caduceus. Once at Elysium, the situation was exactly as Erhard expected: nasty. After accompanying Dr. Stiles and Angie to find out that Emilio and Heather were infected along with another patient and a staff member, Derek said that he could handle the situation only for Erhard to say, "This might be a bit too much for you, operating on four GUILT patients. Allow me to handle Emilio and Ms. Ross."

"You sure you can do this?" Dr. Stiles asked.

"Yeah. Regardless, we have no time to argue over who to treat right now. We need to begin our respective operations."

"We'll treat Ms. Ross and Emilio while you have the staff member and the Elysium patient. The chiral reaction denotes a Kyriaki infection. Emilio's GUILT antibodies can do nothing to slow it down since it isn't Pempti." Gabe said.

"Let's do this, Gabe. Any idea where the infection is for Emilio?" Erhard said as he began.

"It's . . . it's on the heart!"

"We'll have to treat him first. Let the disease pass from this world. . ."

Making an incision on Emilio after putting him to sleep, Erhard saw no less than three Mature Kyriaki on the outside and a few lacerations. He first used the laser to force the Mature Kyriaki into the organ before treating the lacerations and injecting three doses of stabilizer into Emilio to get his vitals to 75. After the third dose, six lacerations were made by the Mature Kyriaki before they surfaced.

"Something's odd about the Mature Kyriaki in Emilio. They're surfacing after they make their lacerations." Gabe said.

Erhard forced the Kyriaki back in with the laser before suturing the lacerations and injecting a dose of stabilizer. Once again six lacerations were made before the Mature Kyriaki surfaced again. This time the Kyriaki stayed up top even when the laser was used on them, forcing Dr. Muller to switch between suturing lacerations and using the laser on the Mature Kyriaki. Eventually, the Mature Kyriaki were exterminated and any lacerations that remained were sutured before a convulsion occurred. Once it was over, three lacerations appeared before two Mature Kyriaki surfaced. Using the laser to force them back in, Dr. Muller then sutured the lacerations before injecting two doses of stabilizer. Two seconds after the second dose, five lacerations appeared as Erhard used the ultrasound and found a large Kyriaki inside and used the scalpel to force it out as the two Mature Kyriaki surfaced. Dr. Muller used the laser to force all three Kyriaki back in before suturing the lacerations and injecting four doses of stabilizer. After the third dose, five lacerations appeared as the two Mature Kyriaki surfaced again while the fourth dose was being injected. After using the ultrasound, it found not only the other large one, but a round object that was destroyed by the scalpel when Erhard tried to force it onto the surface.

"I guess that the Kyriaki that doesn't surface after the lacerations is a Queen of sorts judging by the destroyed egg. Anyways, we've got our countermeasure to the Queen. Destroy any eggs and then force the Queen out." Gabe said.

Erhard used the laser to damage the Queen and the two Mature Kyriaki, but this time all three of the large GUILT remained on the surface as the Queen laid two eggs that were destroyed by the scalpel easily. Very suddenly after the eggs were destroyed, the Mature Kyriaki and the Queen went into overdrive and started making lacerations extremely quickly.

Erhard suddenly saw a star shape in front of him and traced it with his tensed left index finger and then time seemed to slow for him. Another thing was that upon suturing any lacerations, Emilio's vitals rose by 5. Using the laser, Dr. Muller killed the Queen and Mature Kyriaki with the laser before suturing any last-minute lacerations they made before dying. Suturing and disinfecting the incision before putting an bandage on it, Erhard noticed his vision going dark at three minutes since beginning and said, "You're . . . safe, Emi. . . Emilio. . ." before falling unconscious.

Dr. Stiles and Angie came in and said, "How's Heather and Emilio doing?"

Gabe said, "Emilio's just been treated and we were about to start on Ms. Ross, but Dr. Muller has fallen unconscious after treating Emilio! I tell you, he was moving fast and when he treated any lacerations after tracing a star with his left index finger, Emilio's vitals rose!"

"We'll handle Heather Ross now. We finished treating our two patients earlier. You and Dr. Muller should rest." Angie said to Gabe.

"Thanks, Ms. Thompson." Gabe said as he picked up the unconscious Erhard Muller and left the operating room. Two minutes later, Derek and Angie came to Gabriel Cunningham and said that Heather was successfully treated.

After returning to Caduceus, Erhard was placed in a hospital bed where he remained while business at Caduceus continued. This happened for an entire month and on the thirty-second day, Derek was talking with Adel Tulba in the room where Dr. Muller was asleep in when he stirred before waking up and saying, "Augh, my head aches. How long have I been out for?"

"You've been asleep for an entire month. Honestly, I was starting to worry that you might never wake up." Derek said.

"Your friend Gabe has been assisting me with any operations that occurred while you were out." Adel added.

Executive Hoffman came in and said, "Ah, glad to see you awake, Dr. Muller. You're probably wondering exactly what that power you had was, but I will tell you that it is a power that is capable of making you an unparalleled surgeon."

"The 'power' that he's referring to is called the Healing Touch. Gabe managed to record a video of you using what looked like it to save Emilio. I've seen it and from what I know, you have it." Dr. Stiles said.

"I seemed to feel time slow down when I used and when I treated those lacerations, Emilio's vitals rose." Erhard said.

"My Healing Touch has the same feeling that time has slowed down. I don't remember who has a Healing Touch with a stabilizing effect." Derek said.

"The wound-treating being linked to the rise in the patient's vitals happens to be the effect of my Healing Touch." an elegant voice said.

Dr. Muller and Dr. Stiles saw a woman with silver hair walk in. Robert Hoffman turned to see her and asked, "Who are you?"

"I am Naomi Kimishima. It's time that I reveal who I truly am now." the woman said.

"To protect myself from Delphi, I had constructed a cover story that I told Dr. Stiles before I operated on him. Now that I've been accepted into America, it's time that my true past was revealed." Naomi explained before continuing, "It is true that I was born to Japanese parents, but I was raised and became a surgeon in Taiwan. The Taiwanese government feared my Healing Touch and not only branded me with the title of 'Devil Doctor,' but they also took my surgical license away before deporting me to Europe. I was sent to Italy where Delphi found me and then took me to America where I was given the identity 'Nozomi Weaver' and with it I was able to emigrate to the United States. I treated GUILT hosts to keep them alive for testing while working for Delphi and before the raid, I deserted them with another agent. I do not know his name, but he is working for the FBI to atone for his role in the medical terrorist organization."

"It seems that my Healing Touch has the effects of both Dr. Stiles and Ms. Kimishima's Healing Touches, which are the Speed Enhance and Stabilizing Hands respectively. For simplicity's sake, I'll call my Healing Touch the Twin Force since it has the effects to both the Speed Enhance and Stabilizing hands." Erhard said.


	5. Chapter 5

The day after Erhard woke up, business at Caduceus was usual stuff, but for some reason Director Kasal called him and Dr. Stiles up to his office. It was then that they were introduced to Reina Mayuzumi, President of Acropolis Pharmaceutical. After a bit of talking, President Mayuzumi went into the hall with Erhard and Derek to solve a puzzle that would help to recombine a virus's DNA. After that was done, Reina asked Dr. Stiles to consider working for Acropolis exclusively.

"I'm not sure if I should do this though. The others here might not think highly of me should I accept your offer." he explained.

"Indeed. I cannot abandon Caduceus as well. It was by working for them with my friend Gabriel Cunningham that I was able to somewhat become like Dr. Stiles." Erhard said.

"Alright then. It's unfortunate, but the data I have will suffice. I won't bother you again."

Mayuzumi then left. Very quickly Gabe came by and called for Erhard to come down to an operation room.

"What's going on!?" Derek asked.

"We've got Rosalia Virus patients coming in. And that's not the worst of it." Gabe answered.

"What's so worrying?"

"One of the patients. . . is none other than the Triti Sinner. Anyways, Angie's in another operation room, so head there."

Derek immediately went to the operation room where Angie was waiting. Upon arrival she said, "I never thought that we would have to treat a former patient again for something like this. Anyways, I should explain who our patient is: she's a Chinese girl that Delphi kidnapped when she was only two months old."

"Delphi went as low as to kidnap infants!? It's a good thing that we put a temporary end to their operations when we raided their ocean lab." Derek said.

"Even then, the girl's parents were planning to kill the baby anyway. China's one-child law is still on their law books for some reason, even though it's no longer necessary because of the two wars going on with both India and Mongolia. Something about border disputes getting violent or insurgents from any of the three countries deliberately causing trouble and fleeing over to make it look like innocent people were being attacked. That information isn't relevant, but the girl is named Lian. Unfortunately, she's been disowned by her relatives and thus was sent to an orphanage where she has been staying until the Rosalia Virus infected her. She's around 14 years old right now."

"That means she was the youngest of Delphi's Sinners!"

"Anyways, she's now suffering from a Rosalia Virus infection. A virus colony has formed over the stomach and the black bruise has also formed over her right shoulder. Four virus tumors and some hemorrhaging have been detected there in the area affected by the bruise."

Making an initial incision on Lian's chest, Derek and Angie saw a virus colony for the first time. The black, purple, and red gem-like texture meant that the virus was active. Spraying the antiviral drug onto the colony, Derek was then able to treat the Rosalia Virus colony like a normal tumor. After that was done, the incision was sutured and disinfected before a bandage was put on it and then an incision was made on her right shoulder to allow Dr. Stiles to see the four tumors and hemorrhaging. The hemorrhages were dealt with first and then Derek used the antiviral spray on the tumors before draining and extracting them.

Looking at the patient's shoulder, Dr. Stiles noticed that the black bruise had disappeared. Suturing and then disinfecting the incision before putting a bandage on it, Derek then said, "It seems that the bruise was somehow connected to the virus tumors and hemorrhaging because it vanished when I treated them."

"You're right, Dr. Stiles. Dr. Muller's notes made a similar connection." Angie said to Derek.

"It sure is going to be busy very soon. And that means that I cannot afford to slack off."


	6. Chapter 6

A few days later, Director Hoffman was talking with a bureaucrat named Patrick Mercer about something, namely that not very many doctors reached their full potential and to remedy the problem, Mercer's organization, the Hands of Asclepius, was requesting some personnel from Caduceus itself. Hoffman was talking with him in a hallway when Dr. Stiles and Dr. Muller came in.

"Ah, there you are, Director. Who's the person that's with you?" Derek asked.

"That is a question that I would like to know the answer to as well." Erhard added.

"Dr. Stiles, Dr. Muller, this is Patrick Mercer, from the Ministry of Health and Human Services. He's establishing a new medical organization called the Hands of Asclepius." Director Hoffman said.

"Nice to meet you." Dr. Stiles said.

"Indeed." said a man who had very dark skin as he walked in along with a white man that looked like he was to start foaming at the mouth.

"The name's Roaring Jaguar. I come from Guatemala. I work with Sir Mercer to help with my English." the man said.

"Nice to meet you, too." Dr. Stiles and Dr. Muller said at the same time.

"Anyways, the Hands of Asclepius is the company I founded for the sole purpose of creating more skilled doctors, like yourselves. Of course, if you're interested, we'd be happy to welcome you both aboard, Dr. Stiles and Dr. Muller." Mr. Mercer said.

"I am perfectly content with working at Caduceus, but thanks for the offer." Dr. Stiles said.

"It important to work where you happiest. I honor your decision, Dr. Stiles." Roaring Jaguar said.

"YOU MOTHERF***ING ****** ******** ****** ******* ******* SON OF A ******* *****-*******-*********** ****-******* ******-****!" the man who was about to foam shouted.

Derek was shocked and said, "Wha- what!?" Jaguar immediately pulled a syringe out of his coat and injected it into the man, who was now screaming his head off with a massive number of obscenities. The man suddenly fell asleep once the syringe was injected into him and then Roaring Jaguar said, "This man pathetic excuse of person. Only speak filthy words unless he take medication every four hours. He not take medication today. I'm sorry you had to hear foul mouth of his."

"I also apologize for the uncivilized behavior of Tarkin Istanta. He's from Turkey and unlike Mr. Jaguar speaks perfect English. Unfortunately, Mr. Istanta has a mental disorder that has made it so that he primarily says various obscenities if he is not on medication." Mr. Mercer said.

"In any case, I have paperwork to attend to, so if you can excuse me." Erhard said before he left.

An ambulance siren started blaring in the distance. "It seems that I'll be needed in the Operating Room." Dr. Stiles said.

"Director Hoffman, would you allow me to observe Dr. Stiles as he performs the operation coming up?" Mr. Mercer asked.

"Approved." He said.

* * *

><p><strong>Anyways, two OCs here:<strong>

Roaring Jaguar: A native man from Guatemala, he started working for the Hands of Asclepius to improve his English.

Age: 38

Occupation: Medicine Man (A Medicine Man is essentially a Native American doctor)

Height: 6'2

Weight: Unknown

Tarkin Istanta: a crazed man from Turkey, he has a mental disorder which prevents him from communicating normally without medication.

Age: 34

Occupation: Unknown (this stems from his disorder)

Height: 5'3

Weight: Unknown

**A/N: It's now official: Dr. Stiles will notice that he doesn't have the Healing Touch next chapter due to his confidence taking a massive blow from hearing those obscenities coming out of Tarkin's mouth.**


	7. Chapter 7

After a fast operation involving tumors, Derek Stiles went to his office to do some paperwork. In fact, that was what he did for the next three days. One day while conducting rounds with Erhard, he heard that Dr. Tulba suddenly collasped. Quickly finding out that it was the Costigar Disease, Dr. Stiles immediately rushed to the operating room where Adel Tulba was going to be operated in. During the operation, when Derek tried to use the Healing Touch, he could not use it. It was odd since he was able to use it when he was being observed by Patrick Mercer. So why was he not able to use it now?

While Dr. Stiles was lost in thought, Erhard decided to intervene and was able to save Dr. Tulba. He then said, "Is something wrong, Dr. Stiles?"

"Yeah. I couldn't use the Healing Touch for some reason. It might have been because I don't have any confidence now because of those obscenities from Tarkin's mouth four days ago." he said.

"Well, just to be on the safe side I'll file a request to have you be transferred over to where Professor Kenneth Blackwell is just to make sure that you're doing something because the alternative is paperwork."

Sure enough, about a week after Erhard's conversation with Derek Stiles, the latter transferred over to the penintentiary where Professor Blackwell was being held. While on his way there, he saw someone unfamiliar looking at him at the entrance. The unfamiliar person had raven black hair and wore a nurse's uniform over what appeared to be a long skirt.

"Um, who are you?" Dr Stiles asked the unfamiliar woman.

"Hello. I'm Tomoe Tachibana. Nice to meet you, Dr. Stiles." she replied before bowing respectfully.

"So where did you come from since I assume you're not local?"

"Got transferred here from Resurgam First Care over on the East Coast. As for my past, I'm currrently the heir to the Tachibana clan. Anyways, I've been tasked with helping you. I hope that we can get along."

After meeting with Professor Blackwell, Derek and Tomoe set to work helping Blackwell with his research. It was time-consuming since it was PGS-related stuff, but it kept Dr. Stiles and Dr. Tachibana busy as two weeks passed by. While working with him one day, someone that Dr. Stiles probably expected came. It was Angie.

After exchanging pleasantries wtih her and introducing Ms. Thompson to Dr. Tachibana, Angie said to Derek, "So you've been working with my father here after you transferred out."

"Yeah. He's been keeping me busy with his work, so I don't have much time to think. Speaking of which, you have today off, don't you?" he replied.

"Yep. I also know that Dr. Muller and Ms. Tachibana are acquaintainces."

After a bit of talking with Professor Blackwell on the GUILT outbreak at Elysium, it was confirmed that it was not natural: someone had revived Delphi and was out for revenge. The only clue that he knew however was a codename that belonged to one researcher that escaped arrest: Zum Wohl. After revealing that piece of information, he suddenly collapsed. After a scan was done, the results told that it was Post-Savato. With the current condition of the Professor, it would be impossible to transfer him to Caduceus.

"I'll get ahold of Dr. Muller. There's a high probability that this PGS variation is impossible to stop without a Healing Touch, so you might end up having to operate on Professor Blackwell just to buy some time." Tomoe said before leaving to call Erhard.

As Derek and Anige got ready, they transported him to his research lab. Once ready, they began the operation. Upon making an incision on the unconscious Professor, they saw four tumors that were alternating between a red and blue coloration. Dr. Stiles made sure to treat the tumors while they were blue since he suspected that something bad would happen if they were treated while red. Once all four were extracted, a fifth tumor appeared, but it was constantly switching between red and blue to make it impossible to tell if it was safe or not.

"Darn, we'll have to terminate the procedure." Derek said.

After closing up the incision and bandaging it, Angie asked him why he did it, commenting that it was more like first-aid than an operation. His response was, "There's no way that I can treat that tumor without the Healing Touch. Besides, Ms. Tachibana said that there was a high probability that I could only buy us time."

Tomoe then came in and said, "Erhard's on his way! He'll get here in about a few minutes." before she felt something in her stomach and collasped. A diagnosis on her revealed that the Rosalia Virus had gotten into her and that it had based itself in her stomach.

"Drat, the Rosalia Virus. Thankfully we don't need the Healing Touch for this one." Derek said as he got ready to operate on Tomoe. When Angie got around to undress Tomoe so that her clothes did not interefere with the imminent operation, she quickly realized that what looked like a long skirt was actually the lower half of a Kimono. When Dr. Stiles made an incision on her stomach, there was a virus colony there. Making sure to use the antiviral spray that he had brought with him, he was able to treat the colony and after removing it four hemorrhages began to appear. Derek treated them and when they were gone, he closed up the incision and applied antibiotic gel before putting a bandage over it.


	8. Chapter 7 point 5

Erhard quickly arrived and was able to operate on Professor Blackwell. During that time Dr. Stiles was deep in thought about why he became a doctor and four days later, when someone infected with a mutant Kyriaki strain came in, Derek had regained his confidences and as a result he was able to use the Healing Touch again and with it he saved the patient. He collapsed afterwards and when he regained consciousness Dr. Muller told him that he would be heading back to Caduceus. Tomoe of course would also be transferred to Caduceus as Gabriel Cunningham revealed that the Hands of Asclepius were taking staff members from various hospitals across the country.

The next month was very busy. Caduceus was now understaffed after they sent some people to the Hands of Asclepius and as a result the doctors who remained saw a 45% increase in the number of patients they saw. Heather Ross was able to arrive during this time and with her help Dr. Stiles operated on a patient with Post-Triti while Angie was helping Tyler with another patient. Tomoe also joined Caduceus and assisted Erhard with his operations due to Gabe going to the Hands of Asclepius.

One day, multiple GUILT outbreaks happened across Angeles Bay and both the Hands of Asclepius (HOA) and Caduceus had to perform damage control. There were no fatalities during the outbreak since it was relatively easy to control. Dr. Muller thought that Delphi had unleashed a whole bunch of different GUILT strains, but to his disappointment the chiral reactions were all Tetarti. It was slighty too easy for his tastes initially, but that changed when one of his patients had Tetarti and suspicious tumors on the liver. Sure enough, the Rosalia Virus had infected the poor sap and was still inactive when the GUILT outbreak occurred.

**A/N: this is more of a several-events-happen chapter, so there aren't any details when it comes to the operations.**


	9. Chapter 8

A few days after the mass Tetarti outbreak, Tyler was still depressed while Leslie Sears tried to cheer him up.

"Psh, easier said that done. We're short on supplies, we're understaffed, and on top of all that we've been seeing more Rosalia Virus patients than anything else. It's hard not to be depressed, don't you think?" Tyler said.

"Well, that's true, but we've been working hard, haven't we?" Leslie asked.

"Yeah, but ever since that ourbreak, everyone's been singing the HOA's praises. What about us? If this keeps up, we'll lose even more funding."

"Ssh! Dr. Chase, now's not the time to bring that up."

"What are you so worried about? We should be able to openly discuss-"

Victor walked in and said, "Those government bastards can fly over here, walk down to my office, and kiss my-"

"Whoa! Victor isn't just having a bad day, he looks like he's gonna kill someone!" Tyler said.

"Well, since that serum created by the HOA produced such great results, the government has considered centralizing all the GUILT research at Acropolis. And if that happens, Dr. Niguel will be forced to hand over his materials to them." Leslie said.

"Oh man, that sucks. But hey, where are Derek and Angie today? Don't tell me that they both took the day off. We don't have enough people as it is right now."

"No, the police requested their support, so they're out this morning. Also, I noticed Erhard place something in their equipment before they left to support the police. He quickly went into his office afterwards and has only left it to deliver paperwork."

"The cops, huh? Sucks to be them, too. Wait a second, if those two aren't here, that means. . ."

"That's right, you've got quite a few patients waiting for you, Doctor. I've already prepared their charts, so have fun!"

"Aw, give me a break." Tyler said as he went to operate on the patients waiting for him. Meanwhile, the police were quickly incapactiated and when they regained consciousness, they quickly learned that Derek and Angie had disappeared.

"What should we do?" a SWAT team member asked.

"We're getting a signal and it's moving towards the suburbs! We'll deploy a helicopter with SWAT personnel inside to pursue that signal!" The police chief said.

"We're getting a message from this guy called Erhard Muller! He wants to talk to you, chief!"

"Alright, what is it?"

"Greetings, chief. That signal you're getting is coming from a transceiver I've placed in Dr. Stiles' belongings. Also, alert Caduceus and allow them to follow." Erhard said from his office.

"That sounds like a plan, Erhard! You guys can follow the helicopter we're sending out. Police out." the police chief said before cutting the call.

Seeing that the call ended, Erhard got ready and told everyone in the staff room, "Tomoe and I are going out. Delphi managed to get ahold of Dr. Stiles and Ms. Thompson, so I'll be following the cops. They're currently pursuing Delphi via helicopter, so they should be secure when I get to them along with Ms. Tachibana."

"Alright then, Dr. Muller. Take care." Tyler said to him.

Meanwhile, it was getting dark so the Delphi agent that was driving turned on the lights of his vehicle. "Looks like we're out of the search. I don't see any pursuers." the driver said.

"Alright, but don't let your guard down. We've got an injured comrade. That's going to make it hard to get past an inspection point. Regardless, we need to get as far away from this area as possible!" another Delphi agent said.

"Doctor. . ."Angie began but Derek motioned her to stay quiet.

"Try to stay calm. We don't want to aggravate them." Derek said.

This could be risky, but we don't have a choice. I guess we're lucky to have doctors as hostages. Hey, Doctor! You better know surgery. . . because you're gonna treat my friend here!" the Delphi agent riding shotgun said.

Suddenly the area around the vehicle was illuminated and the driver yelled, "Shit! We've been discovered!"

The Delphi agent in the front passenger seat looked out and saw a police helicopter tailing them and said, "Damn it! Disregard what I said earlier, Doctor! It's going to be too dangerous to operate now!"

The vehicle suddenly sped up and after a few minutes of being pursued by the helicopter the Delphi vehicle drove into a tunnel. The driver was sure that the helicopter wouldn't be able to track them down now only for an FBI Mine Resistant Ambush vehicle to show up behind the vehicle.

"First the police and now the F.B.I. are getting involved!? This just went from bad to worse!" The driver said in anger. Shaking off the FBI vehicle was going to be much more difficult than the helicopter. An opportunity provided itself when the tunnel cleared and when it came, a smoke bomb was released. The Delphi vehicle managed to get away and it seemed that the police had given up but once the road got curvy and steep, the Delphi agent riding up front opened his window and saw a flash of light from the trees before he saw a missile heading straight for the vehicle he, the driver and their hostages were in.

"Brace yourselves for a nasty shock!"

"What's going on!?" Angie asked.

"A missile has been fired at us!"

"This isn't good at all. I think we've entered militia territory." Derek spoke up.

"You seem sure of yourself, Doctor." the Delphi agent said.

"That's because I know that whoever fired that missile at us had to have been local militia. They've been a constant thorn in the side of the government ever since an incident that happened about seven months ago. They've somehow managed to get ahold of various weapons, including anti-vehicular missiles and fragmentation grenades. I suspect that the militias have been getting their weapons through the black market. From what I know, the militias seem to hate Delphi as much as the government."

"Um, should you guys even be tal-" the driver began but got cut off as the missile hit the vehicle and exploded, sending it tumbling forward and off the road.


	10. Chapter 9

The Delphi agent that once rode in the passenger seat was the first to regain consciousness. He quickly grasped his surroundings and saw both Dr. Stiles and Angie Thompson unconscious and quickly shook them awake while being aware that they were in a forested area.

"Argh, that was too close for comfort." Derek complained.

"You got that right." Angie said as she got up.

"What's the situation right now?"

"Looks like we crashed after the missile struck. The driver and my injured comrade didn't make it, but I'm fine for now. How about you two?" the Delphi agent said.

"I'm perfectly fine." Angie said.

"Aside from a light concussion I made it through unscathed." Dr. Stiles said.

"Just follow me and don't try to run away. I know where we need to go." The Delphi agent said as he walked towards the road.

"I'm sure that the militias are watching the roads in this area. They're likely to send gunmen to the crash site as well."

"Drat, that means we'll have to avoid the road altogether and travel through dense forest."

It was dark and due to the fact that hostile militia were in the area, the Delphi agent had Derek and Angie remain silent as they headed west through heavy forest. Once it got close to dawn they had arrived at what appeared to be a manor of sorts. Another Delphi agent saw them and rushed forward, stopping when he was about to crash into them.

"We were about to start looking for you and your buddies this morning. Glad to see that you arrived. I also noticed that you brought hostages with you. Are they Dr. Stiles and Ms. Thompson?" the second Delphi agent asked.

"Yeah. The others in my squad didn't survive. The vehicle we were in got hit by a missile. I was the only one that made it, but the hostages are unscathed. We've had to avoid militia while on our way here." the first one said.

"Due to the local militias encroaching on this location, we're going to consider abandoning this hideout in a few days. Anyways, we'll take the two of you to our leader, Zum Wohl."

The two agents took Derek and Angie inside the manor and went into the basement. In a room of the basement that looked like a dining room, the agents stopped and the first one said, "My lord, I have brought Dr. Stiles and Ms. Thompson."

The person he addressed as 'lord' turned around and said, "Why aren't your comrades here with you?"

"My lord, please show him some lenience. The militias have been buzzing around as of late and are getting closer to discovering this location." the second Delphi agent said.

"Please explain, for I, Heinrich von Raitenau, do not have infinite patience."

"The militia hit our vehicle with an anti-vehicular rocket while we were on our way back with these two. I'm sorry, but the other two members of my cell were killed in the resulting crash. Along with Dr. Stiles and the nurse, I was the only survivor." the first Delphi agent explained.

"This is quite serious. If the nurse had died in that crash, our plans would have been set back by an indeterminate number of days. Anyways, welcome to my manor, Dr. Stiles." Heinrich said.

"So you must be Delphi's new leader." Derek said.

"Exactly. I am Heinrich von Raitenau. I am overjoyed to meet the ones who blasphemed against Adam, my venerable grandfather."

"By overjoyed, you mean 'plant GUILT in us and watch us die,' don't you? And you're the one behind all the outbreaks we've been fighting!"

"Ha! Doctors. . . you toy with men's lives, defying the rules of nature. You prevent natural selection from occurring, instead bringing mankind the pain of old age. And yet, you adamantly deny the clear truth: If you would just leave things in our hands, humanity would return to its natural state. And you're right, I do want to simply plant GUILT in both of you and watch you die, but that would ruin my plans."

"Don't you realize it? Your acts of terrorism have all failed. GUILT is no longer a threat to mankind! I-no, anyone who values life- could never understand what you're trying to do and we don't care to! You're nothing more than would-be murderers, hiding behind ideas that aren't even rational to most people!"

"This little sparring match of ideologies isn't worth my time. Truth shall prevail in the end, be it my philosophy or yours. Besides, people like you could never understand the intricacies of GUILT like we do. It's rather unfortunate, Dr. Stiles, but only time will tell if your ideology of medicine is correct or not."

"You're right, it is unfortunate. I wish I could talk some sense into you. However, it seems that you only respect power."

"I do find it humorous that you believe that GUILT is no longer a threat. You are right about me only respecting power, on the other hand."

"What?"

"GUILT is limitless- the forms it can take, exponential. That serum Acropolis created, it will become as worthless as the fools who created it when we introduce new GUILT to the world."

"A new strain? You mean using Sinners?"

"Wait, then the GUILT we couldn't identify that was inside Emilio was. . . ?" Angie asked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Heinrich said.

"I'm talking about Emilio Juarez, the Pempti Sinner. I ended up operating on him several times and during the most recent operation I performed on him, I eliminated a strain of GUILT that didn't exist three years ago." Derek said.

"Oh, that Mexican kid. Someone's creating GUILT behind Delphi's back and unlike us, that person must be making GUILT for profit, not natural selection! Anyways, yes, we possess the hosts who give birth to new GUILT. They are descendants of the noble Adam himself. What Emilio had was probably some mockery of GUILT cultivated in laboratory conditions instead of a live body! Now, as for you, Ms. Thompson. . ."

Angie immediately noticed that Heinrich had called her name and asked, "Rosalia?"

"What!? What did you say, Ms. Thompson? Rosalia, was it? Ah, it doesn't matter now. I must extend a special welcome to you, just as we did when you were brought to us as a newborn. You too have the genes of a Sinner. It must be fate that you have been brought back to us."

"Fate!? Don't give me that! You people ruined my father's life!" Angie said before feeling something in her stomach and said, "Ugh! Wh- what's going on!? Why are flowers wilting around me!? Rosalia!"

Angie began heaving and then vomited up blood before collapsing to the ground.

"Wh- what is the meaning of this!? Who is this Rosalia!? Answer me, Ms. Thompson!"

"Wait a minute, auditory and visual hallucinations, vomiting up blood, and there's likely to be either severe hemorrhaging, convulsions, and unexplained tumors!" Dr. Stiles said.

"Do you have an explanation as to what's happening to Ms. Thompson?"

"Yeah, and it won't be good news for any of us: Angie's been infected with the Rosalia Virus. It will be useless to try to cultivate GUILT in her body right now, the Rosalia Virus will just exterminate it right away."

"You seem to know about this 'Rosalia Virus,' don't you?"

"Yeah. Unique for a disease, the Rosalia Virus will attack not only the human body, but will also target other diseases like GUILT. Judging by how Angie's acting, the Virus is already active. Only a special antiviral medicine will be able to save her as the Rosalia Virus will eventually kill its host."

"Shit! Then my plans for her will be all for naught! I was planning to use Ms. Thompson's body to cultivate GUILT, but it seems that the Rosalia Virus has already laid claim to her! Remain here if you will, but I must tend to the Prince and Princess. Minions, just make sure that Dr. Stiles doesn't try to leave the manor grounds! I plan to do something about him later." Heinrich said before he left the room.

A few minutes later, gunfire could be heard and after it died down Erhard and Heather came in along with a SWAT team.

"Looks like Dr. Stiles is fine, but what about Ms. Thompson?" a SWAT team member said.

"Please don't approach Angie, she's been infected by the Rosalia Virus." Derek said.

"Ms. Ross, does our equipment currently provide protection against the Rosalia Virus?" Erhard asked Heather.

"Yes, we should be safe. We'll have to operate on Ms. Thompson once we get back outside." Ms. Ross answered.

Once outside and at the medical truck, Erhard and Heather began to prepare to operate. Tyler and Leslie were also present and Tyler said, "Glad to see that you're alright, Derek. Leslie and I have been supporting these guys by treating any wounded SWAT team members. How's Angie faring?"

"The Rosalia Virus has infected her and it only became apparent when she started vomiting up blood! Erhard and Heather will be operating on her in the meantime. I just hope that they can handle this." Dr. Stiles said.

Meanwhile with Erhard and Heather, they had finished preparations and had begun the briefing:

Name: Angela Thompson

Height: unknown

Weight: unknown

Current condition: **Critical**

Age: 24

"Derek is probably worried about Angie right now." Heather said.

"You're right, so we'll need to be on the alert for anything unexpected." Dr. Muller said.

"Anyways, we have only one objective for this operation: Eliminate the Rosalia Virus."

"Alright then. From what the scan told us the virus colony is on the lungs and five virus tumors have also settled on the pancreas. Let the disease pass from this world. . ."

Making an incision on Angie's chest, Erhard and Heather noticed that the virus colony was much larger than what they were used to operating on and split into eight segments. "It looks like the colony is getting ready to burst judging by its size. We'll have to drain each individual segment and excise them one at a time. The colony is simply too large to extract in one go." Erhard said.

Erhard proceeded to do just that to a segment after spraying the antiviral drug on the entire colony and extracted the colony segment that had been drained. He then repeated the procedure and was able to prevent the colony from bursting. From there it was a bit easy treating the tumors on the pancreas. After the tumors were treated, the incision was sutured and disinfected before a bandage was applied.

"Whew, that was an operation well done." Heather said in relief.

"Yeah, it would have been a great loss if we had failed." Erhard replied.

**A/N: Compared to Tarkin Istanta, Delphi members are much more conservative with their swearing, only doing so when the context of a situation requires them to curse.**


	11. Chapter 10

Erhard told Derek that he was successful in eliminating Angie's Rosalia Virus infection. He sighed in relief and said, "Thanks, Dr. Muller. Professor Blackwell would have been saddened if his daughter had died because of the Rosalia Virus."

"Hmm, I didn't know that Ms. Thompson was the daughter of Kenneth Blackwell. Anyways, we should probably wait for the SWAT guys." Erhard said.

"Why don't we check up on Angie? I'm sure that it would be alright."

"Agreed. You're probably wondering why Ms. Ross is here, but I can explain that: Tomoe also dragged Tyler and Leslie along for the mission and Heather insisted on coming with us. It actually helped considering that Tomoe, Ms. Sears and Dr. Chase have been treating any injuries the SWAT team receive."

Derek went over to the medical truck to check on Angie and noticed that she was asleep for the moment. He noticed that she was really cute when sleeping. Dr. Stiles decided to rest his hands over her left hand and remained that way for aroud six minutes. She slowly stirred and then her eyes opened.

"H- Hello, Derek." Angie said.

"I was worried about you while you were being operated on. If. . . if you had died, I wouldn't have known what to tell your father."

"Thanks, Doctor. It kinda reminds me of what happened in Britain, but with our positions switched."

"Oh, you mean when I ended up with both Paraskevi and Kyriaki. That wasn't good for me at all. Since we've now been through a situation where one of us had to be operated on, it means that we've experienced a similar hardship."

"You're right, Dr. Stiles. I was worried about what would happen to you when two different GUILT strains had infected you at once." Angie said before getting to a sitting position and then hugging Derek. He was surprised by this gesture and hugged her as well for a few moments before ending it.

After five minutes passed, the SWAT team returned and said that 90% of the structure had been searched and that there were no escape routes detected. "We should probably accompany you guys. We don't know what Heinrich is hiding in the areas that haven't been searched yet." Derek said.

"You're right, Doctor." a member said.

"Angie, please accompany Dr. Stiles and the SWAT team. We have no idea if Heinrich's going to pull a fast one." Erhard said.

Derek, Angie, Erhard, and Heather all went with the SWAT team inside the manor. The team found a rather high chiral reaction coming from a locked room in the basement. After placing a breaching charge on the door and waiting nearby, the charge exploded and the team charged in. "What the. . .! Doctor, over here!" a member exclaimed.

"No, how could they. . . !?" Derek said as he looked into a research tank with two children inside, one of them being male and the other was female.

"They've made more Sinners!?" Angie exclaimed.

". . . Wer sind sie?" one of the children asked.

"Doctor, wh- what are they?" another SWAT member asked.

"They're living incubators. Their bodies are being used to cultivate GUILT! Heinrich, you. . .!" Derek said.

"Stop right there!" a third SWAT member said as he tried to block the way of a masked man that simply ran past and then stopped in front of the research tank.

"Doctor, look out!" Angie said as Heinrich von Raitenau came into view.

"Freeze! Don't move a muscle or we'll shoot!" the first SWAT member said.

"Our sublime plans would have been executed flawlessly, if not for you. But, it's still not too late!" Heinrich exclaimed.

"Nobody go near him! He may be armed with GUILT!" Derek shouted.

"I have underestimated you, Dr. Stiles. But I have learned from the past. I will not be taken as easily as my grandfather."

"What have you learned?! Look at these children! You're repeating the same mistakes all over again!"

"They are no ordinary Sinners. This is Karl, and this is Christine, my son and daughter." Heinrich said before pointing to the boy and girl respectively and conntinuing, "The Prince and Princess of a new dawn for mankind!"

The masked man pulled a syringe out and said, "Heinrich, you sly old fool. Do you honestly believe that GUILT can destroy humanity?"

"What are YOU talking about?" Von Raitenau asked the masked man.

"Even if GUILT were to destroy the current humanity, a better and stronger mankind would simply replace it and the whole thing would have to start all over again. Only the path I take can save the world. You and your children are needed, so in order to learn, take my blessing!"

The masked man injected the syringe into Heinrich before the leader of Delphi could do anything and then injected a similar syringe into the research tank.

"Aaaagh! My stomach!" Heinrich screamed.

". . .Vater. . . Vater!" Karl exclaimed.

"Aua! Ich habe Magenschmerzen!" Christine exclaimed.

"They're all in serious pain!" Angie shouted.

"Somebody stop that masked man!" Derek said.

A SWAT member shot at the masked man, but only managed to graze his body and the man got away, but not before being hit in the arm and dropping a note. Derek picked it up and read it out loud:

'Nous, the Teacher of Virtue.

'Humanity will always exist in some form or another. Your plans to destroy it will be for naught, for our people, the ones chosen by the Aeons will be immune. GUILT will never be able to take the lives of those chosen by us. Recant your absurd philosophy and embrace the power of Neo-GUILT. Nous will lead the way to true salvation.'

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Derek asked.

"AAAGH! I DON'T KNOW, BUT AT LEAST THAT MOCKERY HAS A NAME! NOUS HAS NO PLACE IN OUR WORLD!" Heinrich exclaimed.

"The GUILT in their bodies must be reacting violently to Nous."

"Dr. Stiles, we'll need to operate on them!" Angie said.

As everyone got ready to operate, three members of the SWAT team went to clear out the rest of the manor.

"All three patients require surgery! We need to determine the order of operation." Angie said.

"Judging by what's going on, it seems that Heinrich is in the most danger. Heather, keep an eye on the children while I try to extract as much information from this lab as possible!" Erhard said.

"Yes, Dr. Muller." Ms. Ross said.

"Now about Heinrich, his liver's been infected with both Tetarti and Nous. Those Nous tumors will interfere with our efforts to get rid of Tetarti if they act at the same time. Our objectives are simple: Eliminate Tetarti, and Eliminate Nous." Angie said.

"There's no time to waste! Let's begin the operation!" Derek exclaimed.

Making an initial incision after sedating Heinrich, it was easy to treat the diverticula by injecting the right serum, but once they were gone and synthetic membranes were placed and affixed, a convulsion occured before a green tumor appeared near where a diverticula was extracted and then a second tumor appeared near it and a third tumor appeared near the right edge of the liver. Then the main body of Nous appeared as three Tetarti bodies surfaced nowhere near the Nous tumors.

"Tetarti and Nous have appeared at the same time! It will be difficult to treat the Nous tumors with Tetarti moving around." Angie stated.

Derek remained silent as he drained and excised the first, then the second and finally the third Nous tumor before attempting to drain and excise Nous itself. The first attempt forced Nous back into the organ as the Tetarti, one of which was blue, another black and the last one yellow, turned white. Dr. Stiles used the respective serum into the Tetarti that matched the serum's color. They quickly surfaced, but the black Tetarti was now purple and the blue one was now green. After they turned white and the colored serum was injected into the correct Tetarti, a Nous tumor appeared next to a Tetarti body going back into the liver, a second appeared near the top and the third one appeared in the center before Nous itself surfaced right next to the first tumor.

Derek was careful when he drained and excisted the first Nous tumor, but it was easy to drain and excise the other two before doing a second attempt to extract Nous. As Nous dove back in, the Green Tetarti turned black, the yellow one turned green and the purple one was now blue as they surfaced. Making sure to inject the correct serum, Dr. Stiles did so after the Tetarti turned they retreated again, a Nous tumor appeared at the bottom of the liver, then a second one appeared a short distance to the right, a third on the left side, and finally a fourth Nous tumor appeared in the center as Nous itself surfaced to the left of the last tumor. Draining the tumors as mildly challenging, but a third attempt on Nous could happen. It dove back in as the Tetrati surfaced, not even bothering to change colors. That proved to be a mistake as they got a dose of serum matching their color when they turned white.

This time the Tetarti remained up top as four Nous tumors appeared on the right side of the liver, one near the top right corner first, then one a short distance below, then a third a fair distance below it, and a fourth Nous tumor appearing in the bottom right corner before Nous itself appeared on the left side. The black Tetarti turned blue, the green turned purple and the blue one turned yellow. Derek treated the Nous tumors first and when they were gone, the Tetarti all turned white. Making sure to use the correct serum, Dr. Stiles defeated the Tetarti and made a fourth attempt to drain and excise Nous. The attempt succeeded for some reason as a convulsion occurred beofre Nous was eliminated.

"Chiral reaction is negative! Nous and Tetarti have been eliminiated!" Angie said.

"Do you think that Nous was somehow weakened by the Tetarti in Heinrich? It wasn't as difficult to remove as it was for Emilio." Derek asked.

"That's the most likely scenario. We'll need to close him up and then treat Karl. According to Ms. Ross, his condition's gotten worse."

After closing up the incision and disinfecting it before putting a bandage on it, Dr. Stiles moved onto Karl and made an initial incision after the reaction from him was Kyriaki and Nous. Treating him was easier since the Nous didn't start showing up until Kyriaki was defeated. After Karl was closed up, Derek and Angie finally moved onto Christine, who had Pempti and Nous affecting the right lung. Just like with Karl, Nous itself didn't attack until Pempti was defeated. With both of Heinrich's children, the Guilt had obviously weakened Nous since for each of them it took only three attempts to excise the main body to destroy it.

"It looks like all three of them have been operated on successfully. Great work there, Dr. Stiles." Angie said to Derek.

"Data retrieval complete! Now we can leave." Erhard said.


	12. Chapter 11

Two weeks had passed since the raid on the Raitenau Manor happened, but for Derek Stiles and Angela Thompson it was still fresh in their minds. After all, they had realized that they were starting to become intimate with each other and Derek said, "We should probably break it out gradually, let only Executive Hoffman and Director Kasal know about it before telling anyone else at Caduceus, and preferrably in their offices so there's no risk of eavesdropping from anyone else."

"Should we continue to act normally while operating on patients?" Angie asked.

"Yeah, that means the patient's safety comes first."

Meanwhile at Elysium, Emilio noticed that his drink tasted a bit odd at lunchtime and thought that someone had mixed disinfectant in. Even though it was relatively mild, he didn't take any chances and another nurse assigned to him decided that maybe he should head back to Caduceus when he talked to her. Of course, Emilio didn't know that Neo-GUILT was about to either have a second round with Derek or battle Dr. Muller with the 17-year old Juarez orphan as the patient. Even if he knew, he honestly wouldn't care since Dr. Stiles and Erhard Muller were more than a match for any disease.

Somewhere else in Angeles Bay, Linda Reid had just gotten home from school and about to start on her homework when she remembered that the lunch she ate at school had tasted a bit odd. She figured that whatever was mixed in was no big deal and decided to focus on her school work and leave the issue for later. It was five days afterwards that Linda suddenly felt something happen to her small intestine. Since it happened on a school day she went to visit the nurse and as it turned out there was something wrong, but it was too advanced for the school to treat so she would have to be sent back to Caduceus. Back at Caduceus, Erhard was talking with Director Kasal and found out that two patients were coming in with similar symptoms.

"It probably has something to do with confidential information, so that's all we'll say about this, isn't it?" he asked.

"Correct. Also, you'll have to operate at night and you'll be starting shortly after Derek finishes. . . business in another operating room." the director said.

"Understood. I won't tell anyone about what we've said. Besides which, you said it yourself that this information isn't leaving this room."

Sure enough, when night fell the place was almost deserted and Heather, along with Angie, Dr. Stiles, Executive Hoffman and Director Kasal, were the only people in the building aside from Erhard himself.

"I wonder why they insisted that this operation take place at night." Heather said to Dr. Muller.

"They probably have yet to confirm this with the information obtained from someone. Besides which, the Hands of Asclepius have been very secretive lately and I found this while conducting rounds earlier today." Erhard said before pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to Ms. Ross. It read:

'Bythos, the Coach of Life.

'All things must eventually come to an end. Mankind is not one of them and neither is civilization. When the time comes, people must be able to do well in a hostile environment. Bythos shall train all willing to reach Nirvana. Such is the compassion of Neo-GUILT.'

"Sounds like a load of bull, doesn't it?" Erhard asked.

"Yeah. Question is though, who would be stupid enough to write something like this if it wasn't anyone from Delphi?" Heather replied.

"The Hands of Asclepius have a lot to answer to. Anyways, we need to get ready."

Executive Hoffman came into the hallway and motioned for Ms. Ross and Dr. Muller to follow him and they followed him into an operation room.

"You'll be operating on Emilio again, Dr. Muller." he said.

"I guess that he is one of the two patients that came in with similar symptoms." Erhard said.

"Yes. The other one, Linda Reid, is being operated on by Derek as we speak, but as soon as we're done you'll have to operate immediately. Do any of you know about Annie Fisher?"

"I heard about her. She's a tennis player who has been rising through the ranks recently. I take it that Dr. Stiles operated on her earlier."

"How did you find out?"

"I just guessed randomly."

"Well, since it was a random guess I'll let it slide, but the point is we can't let anyone know until we officially make an announcement. Both Emilio and Linda have lacerations on the small intestine and chiral reaction is positive."

"By the way, Dr. Muller found this earlier and gave it to me." Ms. Ross said before giving the note to Hoffman. After reading it, he said, "So this is the second strain of Neo-GUILT. Any idea about the names that they have?"

"The only thing that I can think of are the four Aeons in Gnosticism. Bythos is Greek for 'Depth,' so it's likely that whoever created Neo-GUILT did so for profit, not terrorism. Beginning the operation now." Erhard said.

After making an initial incision on Emilio, Dr. Muller saw four lacerations on the small intestine and sutured them. Then a convulsion occurred before something with a blue eye in its center surfaced and made four lacerations in a cross pattern. Erhard remembered that eyeballs don't like lasers, so after he sutured the lacerations he used the laser on the eye-like thing in the middle of the weird thing. After a couple of seconds of being subjected to the laser, it burst into four shards and several spores came flying out. The eye-like thing remained where it was and Erhard made sure that it didn't touch either the shards or the spores when bringing it to the tray with the forceps. After doing so, the shards and spores returned to where the core had been and the mysterious Neo-GUILT's body regenerated and produced a new now.

"Extracting that eye-like core must have weakeked Bythos somehow. Let's try that again." Dr. Muller thought to himself.

After using the laser on Bythos for a couple more seconds, the core extraction was repeated and when it regenerated, the eye-like core was now purple and it made three lacerations that were sutured before Erhard focused the laser onto Bythos again. It didn't get the chance to attack again before its body burst for a third time and when the core was extracted, it regenerated a third time and was red in color. The laser was used to break Bythos for the fouth time and one final core extraction occurred before the shards and spores came together and a second convulsions occurred as Bythos destroyed itself. Dr. Muller made sure to close up the incision and disinfected it before putting a bandage on it.

"Well, Emilio's going to be safe for now." Erhard said.

Director Kasal came in and said, "Dr. Stiles was successful in operating on Ms. Reid."

"Whew, that's a relief." Heather said.

"I'm pretty sure that this is just the start of something bigger. We can't let our guard down." Dr. Muller said.


	13. Chapter 12

Over the next few days, it was extremely busy as both Derek Stiles and Erhard Muller worked with the staff of Caduceus when not operating on patients. Eventually, the other branches of Caduceus had compiled and sent enough evidence to the USA branch that an airtight case was made against the Hands of Asclepius and Acropolis Pharmaceutical. Dr. Muller, Heather, Derek Stiles and Angie Thompson all went to the Headquarters of the Hands of Asclepius as the police had requested their assistance in case any resistance was put up. After a bit of talking with Professor Blackwell, who had infiltrated the Hands of Asclepius, three of the researchers started experiencing pain. After they were sedated, a CT scan was done on each of them in the building's examination rooms and it revealed aneurysms on the brain for all of them.

"Derek, I'll leave these guys to you and Ms. Thompson while Heather and I accompany a few members of the SWAT Team to search the rest of the place. You sure you can handle this?" Erhard said.

"Yeah, I'll be able to handle these three." Dr. Stiles said.

Erhard and Heather left Dr. Stiles and Ms. Thompson to treat the researchers as they went with the SWAT team to search the rest of the building. To their relief, they didn't encounter any trouble when questioning three more researchers. That changed once they found Adel Tulba's office. Barging in, Erhard noticed the Costigese doctor clutching his stomach and he said, "Damn HOA bastards, they injected Nous into me and then activated the Neo-GUILT! The ones responsible should have holed up in Mr. Mercer's office!"

"Please get a sedative ready, Ms. Ross. We'll have to operate on him." Erhard said to Heather.

"Right away, Doctor." Heather said as she sedated Dr. Tulba and helped transport him to an operating room. A scan was done and sure enough Nous was attacking his stomach. After making an initial incision, Erhard saw that a Nous tumor was on Dr. Tulba's stomach and drained it before excising it. After doing so, a convulsion occurred before another Nous tumor appeared near the top of the stomach, then a second one appeared to the left of the first one and finally a third tumor appeared a fair bit below the first tumor as Nous itself surfaced in the top-left corner. Dr. Muller drained and excised the tumors in the order they appeared in and attempted to drain and excise Nous. These events repeated themselves until after the sixth attempt on Nous. A convulsion occured as Nous died and then Erhard closed the incision and disinfected it before putting a bandage on it.

About a minute later, Derek and Angie told Dr. Muller that the three researchers had been operated on successfully. In turn, Heather told them that some of the HOA personnel had betrayed their allies and injected Neo-GUILT into Adel Tulba.

"Well, at least we know where the perpetrators are holed up." Derek said.

"One of the researchers I questioned also told me that Roaring Jaguar had quit once he found out about the betrayal. He bailed out of here a few hours before the investigation started." Erhard noted.

"Doctors, we've cut off all escape routes and have personnel waiting in front of Mr. Mercer's office." a SWAT team member said."

"That reminds me, what is Gabriel Cunningham doing?" Angie asked.

"He realized what everyone here was doing and left a few days ago." Adel Tulba said as he stepped into the room.

"Where is he now?" Derek asked.

"He went off somewhere. Even I don't know where he could be."

Meanwhile at Caduceus, Emilio had woken up and was able to walk around without much trouble. He overheard something in an adjacent room and requested to see what was going on. Sure enough, Linda had woken up and was talking with her parents. Emilio entered the room and noticed tha everyone stopped talking before introducing himself, in English.

"It nice to meet you, Emilio. I'm Reid, Linda Reid." Linda spoke up.

"It's nice to meet you too, Linda." Emilio said and repeated in English before he said, "Sorry if you could not understand me earlier. English is not my first language."

"No, it's not a problem." Linda's father said.

"Indeed, not a problem for us at all." Linda's mother said to Emilio.

"By the way, Emilio, do you have. . . any parents?" Linda asked.

"No. . . my parents died when I was eleven. I'm an orphan with no relatives, not even a grandmother." Emilio said sadly.

"Hmm, this is quite worrying. Maybe you could live with us."

"Before I accept, Mr. Reid, Mrs. Reid, do you ahve any objections?"

They nodded in disagreement and then Emilio said, "I accept your offer, Linda."


End file.
